Automatically document your Printer properties with the network documentation tool XIA Configuration. Screenshot or Printer Properties in the XIA Configuration Server web interface Scan your network with the XIA Configuration Client to find Windows machines and network devices including printers.  Then view this data in the XIA Configuration Server web interface where you can run reports to audit your environment and generate professional documentation. The following data is included when documenting printers: Available From Available Until Capabilities Caption Comment Device ID Driver Location Port Print Processor Priority Security Separator Page Share Name Spool Mode Advanced Settings Find out more about XIA Configuration > Request a Free Trial >

This post describes one way to fix the error: The WSMan provider host process did not return a proper response. Issue When retrieving data from a remote machine using PowerShell, you see errors such as: 'The paging file is too small for this operation to complete.' 'Not enough storage is available to complete this operation.' 'The WSMan provider host process did not return a proper response.  A provider in the host process may have behaved improperly.' Screenshot from XIA Configuration Cause This error can occur when the MaxMemoryPerShellMB value on the remote machine is not high enough to allow a proper response to be returned. Resolution To check the MaxMemoryPerShellMB setting, run the following on the remote machine you are trying to retrieve data from using PowerShell: Get-Item WSMan:\localhost\Shell\MaxMemoryPerShellMB On my Windows Server 2016 virtual machine, this error occurred when the value was set to 25.  To set a ...

This post describes how to fix the error 'Value does not fall within the expected range' which can occur when using Microsoft Windows Scheduled Tasks. Cause This error occurs when you add a Monthly trigger to a scheduled task and you pick one of the 'Select all' options: After you press OK, then press OK again to save the Task, the error ''Value does not fall within the expected range'' appears. Resolution To fix this error, open the triggers where 'Select all' has been used, observe that 'Select all' is no longer checked however all the other options are selected, then press OK. Warning If you have picked 'Last', this option is also no longer selected when you open the triggers after seeing the error. You must re-select this option in order to re-apply it.

Use XIA Configuration to automatically document all roles and features on all your servers running Windows Server 2008 and above. The following information is documented for each role or feature: Name Numeric Identifier Install State Parent Numeric Identifier Parent Unique Name Unique Name Use the reporting feature to query the install state of all the roles and features across your entire environment at once. Find out more about documenting Windows servers > Request a free trial >

After performing some testing on one of my virtual machines, I somehow lost the ability to drag and drop files from my host machine to the vm, even though I was logged on as the Administrator. Further investigation revealed that I could not drag and drop files from the root of my local drive to my desktop without the following User Account Control prompt appearing: File Access Denied You'll need to provide administrator permission to move this file A similar prompt also appeared for folders: Destination Folder Access Denied You'll need to provide administrator permission to move to this folder Permissions? At first, I thought it might be a permissions issue but this checked out ok. Policy Setting I then checked the policy settings and noticed the following policy was enabled: User Account Control: Admin Approval Mode for the Built-in Administrator account This is located in Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Loca...

If you want to save time and automatically keep a record of the configuration of the devices on the Windows servers and workstations in your organization, take a look at the network documentation tool XIA Configuration . It scans all the Windows machines on your network then makes the configuration data available in a searchable web interface or a PDF export allowing you to create professional documentation in seconds. XIA Configuration also includes over 200 reports allowing you to audit all the machines in your environment at once.  Reports can be exported to CSV for further analysis. The following data can be audited for Windows machine devices: Device Settings Class Class GUID Device Status PNP Device Identifier Manufacturer Device Class Location Driver Details Driver Date Driver Provider Signed By Driver Version Inf Name Find out more about XIA Configuration > Download Free 30-Day Trial >

When calling the System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry.CommitChanges method, the following error can occur if one of the property values is too long or of the wrong type: A constraint violation occurred. (exception from hresult: 0x8007202f) This can occur for example if you try to create a user account in Active Directory with a first name which is too long. If you are using the user provisioning software XIA Automation and you enter an invalid value during the user creation process, this error will display.  You can also see the full exception in the trace log. Screenshot showing error 'A constraint violation occurred' Solution Ensure that the values you are using to create the user account are valid according to the Microsoft documentation for Active Directory i.e. the correct type and within the length constraints.

If you have a business requirement to audit and document the remote desktop and remote assistance settings on the Windows PCs and servers on your network, use XIA Configuration to perform this task automatically. Each Windows PC and server is automatically discovered and scanned.  The data can then be viewed in the web interface where you can also perform audits and run reports. Or you can generate professional documentation with your own look and feel. The following settings are documented: Remote Assistance Settings Allow Remote Control Create invitations for Windows Vista or later Enabled Maximum Ticket Expiry Remote Desktop Settings Allow Connections Connection Mode Is Session Host Licensing Mode Security Group Name Remote Desktop Users Learn more about documenting Remote Desktop and Remote Assistance settings > Request a Free Trial >

In this post, I describe how to permanently stop Windows Modules Installer Worker from using high CPU on Windows server.  As with my previous post on this subject, I would not do this on a live machine, however, it can be a pain on a test machine, particularly one that is only on from time to time as it seems to kick in as soon as you turn the machine back on. Stop Windows Modules Installer Worker Stop Windows Maintenance Modules Installer Worker from ever being started by Windows Maintenance tasks by downloading PSTools and running the following commands: Server 2012 R2 psexec  \\% computername %   -s  schtasks  / change  / tn "\Microsoft\Windows\TaskScheduler\Maintenance Configurator"  / disable psexec  \\% computername %   -s  schtasks  / change  / tn "\Microsoft\Windows\TaskScheduler\Regular Maintenance"  / disable psexec  \\% computername %   -s  schtasks  / change  / tn...

Did you know you can use XIA Configuration to automatically get a list of the installed programs on all your Windows servers and workstations?  Read this article to find out how. How to get a list of Installed Programs on Windows 1. Create a Windows Machine Scan Task Create a Windows Machine scan task in the XIA Configuration Client.  In agent settings, ensure Installed Programs is set to Scan. 2. Scan the Windows Machines Either start a scan manually or schedule a scan.  Once complete, check it was successful. 3. List Installed Programs In the XIA Configuration Server, open a Windows machine item, navigate to Software > Installed Software to see a list of installed programs: 4. Run the Software Installation Report You can also run the Software Installation Report under Windows Machine Reports in the Browse Reports section of XIA Configuration Server. Installed Programs data The Installed Programs data listed by XIA Configura...

Use the network documentation tool XIA Configuration to automatically document your Windows shares including shared folders and printers. The following Windows share settings are documented: Shared Folder Name Description Maximum Connections Allowed Path Type Caching Share Permissions Owner NTFS Permissions Find out more about the Windows Machine capability > Request a Free Trial >

If you need to document the local user accounts and groups on each Windows machine on your network then use the network documentation tool XIA Configuration to perform this task automatically. Each Windows machine is automatically discovered and scanned, the data is then stored in a database where you can track changes and compare items.  You can then either view the local accounts in the web interface or export to a PDF with bespoke branding. The following information is available for local accounts: Users Name Full Name Description Enabled/Disabled Home Directory Home Drive Last Login Login Script Password Expired Password Last Set Password Never Expires Profile Path Security Identifier User Cannot Change Password Administrator Account Guest Account Groups Name Description Members Security Identifier Administrators Group Find out more about XIA Configuration > Request a Free Trial >

The user provisioning tool XIA Automation has recently been reviewed in IT Administrator magazine from Germany.  The review is over four pages long and goes into lots of detail. You can read a small snippet of the review and order a copy of the magazine here: http://www.it-administrator.de/magazin/heftarchiv/artikel/241728.html